1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for sheltering docked boats and is especially suited as a shelter for a boat docked in a floating dock.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The sheltering of boats presents many problems not encountered in conventional structures. Boat houses can be very expensive due to the terrain encountered along the shoreline. Also, it is desirable to have access to the shelter by driving the boat in under the shelter or running the boat up on a cradle, which in turn can be drawn into the shelter on tracks. Likewise, some decking or planking is needed around the inside perimeter of the dock for loading and unloading passengers, as well as for working on the boat.
One of the most economical solutions is the use of a floating boat dock which need only be tied to the shoreline. But the covering of such docks poses problems not encountered in land based shelters and fixed docks. Rising and falling tides, winds and turbulent water make rigid structures impractical in covering floating docks. There must be some built-in resiliency to avoid stress on the supporting structure. Also, such dock covers must be customized for the length and height of boat to be accommodated. In addition, there must be some provision for dismantling so that the cover can be shipped from place to place.
Only two references were found which dealt directly with floating boat docks, as such. McCullers' Dock (1927) introduced sections which could be bolted together to support a duraluminum roof. He used gears, racks and pawls to permit independent adjustment of either side of his dock. Spaced floats supported the structure when assembled. Unlike the present invention, McCuller's invention was addressed more to the versatility of his height adjustment than to resiliency, ease of assembly and economy.
Bradley's Boat Storage Houses (1961) introduced roof rafters, shaped in an arc, fastened to one another by U-shaped clips having ears pivotally mounted to tongues, which allowed the rafters to give with any lateral stress. The rafters supported a roof of corrugated sheet material. The base of the rafters were also pivotally mounted to the floating platforms on each side, to permit slight rotation of the rafters with lateral movement of the structure. The floats upon which his structure rested were tethered to pilings by large rings which slipped up and down on the pilings, permitting the floats to move up and down with the tides but preventing the dock from swinging left or right or pulling away from the shore. Due to its complexity, this inventor doubts that Bradley's dock can be as easily assembled as claimed in his objectives.
Collapsible structures from other applications have made contributions to the art but none meet the needs of floating boat docks as simply and as economically as does the present invention. The present invention meets its major objective of ease of assembly with a design that simultaneously provides resiliency, ease of assembly and economy, in a manner not found in the floating boat docks of the prior art. Prior art known to this inventor includes the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
______________________________________ 1,643,464 9/1927 McCullers 1,962,457 6/1934 Noble et al 2,144,747 1/1939 Adams 2,293,329 8/1942 Coburn 2,912,703 11/1959 Murphy 2,922,653 1/1960 O'Brien 2,984,076 5/1961 Bradley 3,441,037 4/1969 Transeau ______________________________________